


Too Much

by livvy_x



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Archie Andrews Needs a Hug, Cheryl Blossom Steps Up, Dark Betty Cooper, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, bughead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-09
Packaged: 2019-02-28 20:16:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13279095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livvy_x/pseuds/livvy_x
Summary: The day after Betty and Jughead break up at the Whyte Wyrm, Jughead and Archie wind up in a booth at Pop’s with none other than Cheryl Blossom. She knocks some sense into both boys, shockingly. Is it enough to help Jughead fix everything that had happened?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The next day after FP’s welcome home party and the breakups that came with it, Jughead and Archie find themselves with Cheryl at Pop’s. Cheryl straightens Archie out, and knocks some sense into Jughead. Does Jughead already know what she is telling him? Or does it all bring him guilt? How does he respond to Cheryl?

Somehow, the next day after FP’s welcome home party at the Whyte Wyrm, Cheryl ended up in a booth at Pop’s with Archie and Jughead. The two boys weren’t even eating, and being that there was a burger in front of Jughead, that meant he was really upset. Archie was just staring ahead, silently listening to the voices of others in the diner. Cheryl looked at them back and forth, an amused smile on her lips.

After so long of staring at the pathetic boys, Cheryl cleared her throat. Jughead didn’t bother looked up from where his face was shoved between his arms on the table, but Archie turned to meet her gaze. “You two are even stupider than you look,” she said. She flipped her hair back as she took a sip of her milkshake, waiting for their responses.

“Why would she do that?” Jughead mumbled into his leather jacket. His head finally shot up. “She wants to become a Serpent.” He paused, staring ahead of him with wide, pained eyes. “She did a fucking strip tease in a bar full of perverted grown men,” he complained, fully not understanding what would possess Betty to do that. Her reasoning of protecting him did not click.

Archie glanced over to his friends. “At least she loves you,” he muttered coldly. Veronica just would not and could not say she loved him, so he was hurting too, but yes, he understood Jughead’s struggles.

Cheryl had raised eyebrows. “You two are so stupid,” she repeated. “Especially you, hobo,” she said to Jughead. “I mean, gosh, for a girl you are so in love with, you really see right passed something things,” she snorted, actually looking at him like he was the biggest idiot on the planet.

“What are you talking about, Cheryl?” Archie rolled his eyes, wondering why she was even sitting here with them.

Cheryl didn’t respond right away, liking to see them squirm for her thoughts. “Hm,” she let out, twirling her straw around the tall glass. “Little Archibald, Veronica has some daddy issues. I don’t think, even with their parents relationship, she was opened to a lot of love between them. Family issues can mess a girl up, let me tell you,” she retorted, hinting about herself, of course. “Give her time. A girl like that’s gotta get used to the ‘L’ word,” she clicked her tongue, acting like it was obvious.

“Huh,” Archie responded understandably. He realized that he should’ve probably thought about that, being as she’s only been open to the parts of her parents that involve work and money, not love. He had some thinking to do.

“And on the matter of our new snake princess,” Cheryl turned to Jughead, holding back a laugh at his reaction of the nickname she used for Betty. “She’s spiraling.” To her, it was a matter-of-fact, and Jughead should’ve seen it.

Shaking his head, Jughead asked, “What?”

Cheryl grunted in annoyance at their dumbness. “That girl has some serious mental health issues. Have you never realized that? Like some bad anxiety issues?” As she spoke, Jughead thought about her scarred palms. “I’m not saying a doctor would lock my lovely cousin in a psych ward, even though I would, but obviously she needs some counseling or something; maybe just some plain emotional support.”

“How do you know that? What even makes you say that?” Jughead blabbered, feeling his heart rate increase.

Sighing, Cheryl shook her head. “Let’s start from the top, shall we? One, she tried to drown Chuck. Two, Serpent boy, I know you see those nail imprints in her hands. Three, she threatened to kill me once. Four, she blackmailed me. Five, at that party? She freaking tore V a new one… yeah, for the Black Hood, but damn,” she chuckled. “Six, she found out her mom was a Serpent, that she has a long lost brother, and that she’s part Blossom in a short time period; it’d be enough to drive someone nuts. Seven, she actively investigates murderers, not caring that she’s putting herself in life or death situations. Eight, ‘go to hell, serpent slut,’ was written on her locker in pigs blood. Nine, she accused Sheriff Keller of being the Black Hood. Ten, she became a stripper in front of most of the Southside Serpents, very classy by the way.” She snorted. “Oh, and eleven? She loves you way too much,” she judged. “Let me tell you, that bitch isn’t as perfect as everyone thinks. I mean, pay attention, for God’s sakes.”

Jughead’s head was spinning. Could he really be that oblivious? That all of this terrible shit that she had gone through had actually drove her to this point? The words Cheryl said kept flashing in his mind, from her attempting to drown Chuck with a black wig on, all the way to her little show last night. With everything, including the Black Hood calling her and that darkness she feels deep inside, the idea of her spiraling made sense. Also, Jughead knew damn well that he should’ve paid more attention to her mental health, especially because he already know how she harms herself. All in all, Cheryl was right, he was an idiot.

“She’s going through a hard time, Cheryl, she’s not insane,” Archie countered. “We should’ve seen that though… how it’s affecting her. She puts everything on herself,” he said tiredly, running a hand over his face. “We can’t blame her for it though,” he added. Looking up at Jughead, who was practically on the brink of tears, he frowned. “What are you gonna do, Jug?”

Jughead gulped, shaking his head back and forth. He refused to meet eye contact with anyone at the moment. “I don’t know,” he whispered. “I really don’t know.”

“And lastly, dear Jughead, she’s doing everything she can to keep you from leaving her, to keep you safe, to show her how much she loves you… and you broke things off again last night, didn’t you?” She tilted her head, belittling him. “You did it to protect her though. Same reason she tried joining the Serpents.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day after Betty and Jughead break up at the Whyte Wyrm, Jughead and Archie wind up in a booth at Pop’s with none other than Cheryl Blossom. She knocks some sense into both boys, shockingly. Is it enough to help Jughead fix everything that had happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After Cheryl’s intervention, Jughead winds up at Betty’s. Is he able to make amends and fix what happened between him and Betty?

Jughead left his bike at Pop’s. He had to clear his head a bit. All honestly though, he didn’t know where he was even walking until he looked up and found himself in front of the Cooper household. “Goddammit,” he cursed himself for ending up here. He needed to talk to her, he knew that, but he just didn’t know what to say. _I’m sorry for pushing you out every other day? Sorry for becoming a Serpent and making you think it’s okay for you to do the same? Oh, and by the way, you looked hot up there. I’m sorry for being oblivious to how badly you need someone to lean on? _He had no clue how to communicate what he needed to.__

__Before he knew it though, Jughead was putting the latter up to Betty’s bedroom and climbing. Once he got to the window, he saw her sitting in front of her vanity, staring into the mirror and putting on bright red lipstick… the type of lipstick Cheryl would wear. He saw that her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, showing she had been crying. Right now though, her face was set in stone, not sad or not happy, yet a slight bit angry. Jughead peered around the rest of the room. A black wig was sprawled on the floor, and so was the lingerie she performed in. From the way the two articles of dresswear were hurled on the floor made it seem like she threw it. The anger and embarrassment she was feeling was clear in her facial expression and her poster._ _

__As he watched, he saw her face contort to something more pained, like she was ready to explode. Her eyebrows started to furrow the same way they did when he was breaking up with her the night before, scrunching to hold back as many tears as possible. In a quick movement, she grabbed a tissue and harshly wiped the red lipstick off. “What did I do?” He heard her yell through the glass. Her hair then scrunched up in her hands as she curled forward, leaning her head on the vanity._ _

__Not being able to see her like this anymore, Jughead knocked on the window. Memories of their first kiss ran through his head, _why couldn’t it be like that now? _Sucking in a breath, he looks down until he head the window opening. “Hey, there, Juliet,” he whispered, slowly meeting her eyes.___ _

____“What are you doing here, Jughead?” Betty turned, sniffling as she walked towards her bed. She seemed tired, it was heard in her voice. She sat atop her mattress, making sure he back was facing the boy that was climbing through the window._ _ _ _

____Hesitantly, Jughead went to sit on the opposite side of the bed, back to back. “You know I love you, right?” His voice was so low that it was barely audible, but she heard it._ _ _ _

____Betty shifted, but didn’t turn to look at him and neither did he. “Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t,” she responded, feeling her throat go dry as she said the words._ _ _ _

____Jughead winced, squeezing his eyes shut. That literally felt like got punched in the gut. He let out a shaky breath, still not facing her. “Betty, I— Fuck. You have to under— Betty, I love you more than anything.” His body whipped around, having to look at her now, even if it was hard. “You gotta know I love you, Betty. You have to,” he pleaded._ _ _ _

____Betty turned her head towards him. Their glassy eyes met, threatening them to break. “Then why do you keep pushing me away? Why did you say what you said last night? That we were gonna keep doing this ‘until it sticks,’” she said, hurt and anger and sadness laced in her tone. “Do you think this isn’t worth fighting for? Are we not worth enough? Am I not worth enough to you?” At this point, her shoulders were slouched down as she leaned forward to talk to him. Tears burned her eyes, threatening to fall. Every word came out more drained than the last._ _ _ _

____“You’re more than enough,” Jughead responded. “God, Betty, you’re too much for me. I’m not enough for you,” he shook his head. “All of this? Me pushing you away? I’m doing it to protect you. Everything I do is to protect you.” He reached a hand up to her cheek, which she involuntarily leaned into. “Everything I touch I destroy, you’re the one thing I want to save,” he whispered, looking at her with the softest eyes._ _ _ _

____Betty sighed, closing her eyes for a moment just to feel the warmth of his hand on her cheek. Slowly, she lifted her hand to rest on his forearm, as a way of making sure he didn’t pull away. “You’re not destroying me.” There it was… her unwavering stubbornness. “Jug, there are so many other things that are tearing me down right now, so many other things; you aren’t one of them.” Gulping, she paused, not looking at him. “I need you. I need you to be here for me.” A tear spilled. “You keep me grounded.”_ _ _ _

____Jughead pulled her into him without a second thought. He held her tight and close to her chest, stroking her hair as she lightly sobbed. “I’m here. I’ll be here,” he promised, kissing her head._ _ _ _

____“It’s getting hard to hold in, Juggie,” Betty admitted, alluding to the darkness that she felt in her, and Jughead knew. He knew. “I don’t know where it comes from, but I just need you to be here. It’s too much,” she cried softly. “I want it to go away.”_ _ _ _

____Jughead nodded, feeling a tear now running down his cheek. “I won’t leave. I’ll be here, okay? I won’t leave you, Betty,” he said, almost desperately. “I’m sorry,” he kissed he side of her head once more. He pulled her back then to lay on her bed. “You need to relax,” he whispered. “Just lay with me.”_ _ _ _

____“Okay,” Betty sniffled, crawling up to lay with him. She rested her head on his chest, letting his play with her knotty, messed up hair._ _ _ _

____“Let’s just relax these next couple days, okay?” Jughead said lowly. They needed relaxation, which was for sure. “You need to calm your nerves; I need to put my head on straight. Let’s just take a break.” It was not even worth questioning, to be honest. “You need a break,” he whispered. Betty nodded._ _ _ _

____For a while, they laid there in silence, just feeling the other breath. This feeling of security that they had in each other’s arms is one of the things they keep running away from; it was time to stop and stick together. They were each other’s anchor. They were each other’s hiding place. They needed each other, and if they ran away from it again, they would be classified in history as the stupidest people on the planet._ _ _ _

____“You love me?” Betty asked, needing reassurance again before she allowed herself to drift to sleep._ _ _ _

____Jughead kissed her head. “I love you.”_ _ _ _

____They fight, they break up, they makeup. They love each other so much… too much, so even with all that tried pulling them apart, their hearts with always be one._ _ _ _


End file.
